Dylan Raiola is playing backyard football, but no one inside Memorial Stadium is complaining about it.

With the Huskers leading 14-0 midway through the second quarter, Raiola took a snap from just inside the Colorado 40. He rolled to his right and then fired back across his body. From the right hash to beyond the left hash, Raiola just tossed a ball up for grabs. He trusted his man, and Jaylen Lloyd repaid that trust, coming back to the ball and hauling in a 36-yard reception.

Nebraska tailback Dante Dowdell leaped into the endzone on the very next play to put NU up by 3 scores.

Raiola completed 10 of his first 12 passes against the Buffaloes. The score from Dowdell was his second of the day on his first 9 carries. NU also scored on a 7-yard pick-6 from Tommi Hill.

All day long, the anticipation for this matchup slowly grew in Lincoln. Old Big 8 rivals, Nebraska-Colorado is a hate-filled affair every time it hits the schedule. But this one had a little extra zing to it given what happened last season and what changed in the offseason.

Nebraska turned the ball over 4 times in a 36-14 loss in Boulder. As the team got inconsistent play from the quarterback position, Nebraska turned it over 31 times in 12 games and failed once again to make a bowl game.

This offseason, coach Matt Rhule flipped 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola from Georgia and brought him to Lincoln. Raiola was fabulous in his debut, completing 19 of his 27 passes for 238 yards and 2 scores.